Malaysia reach three French Open finals, eyeing title treble

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will end their 22-year wait for another French Open men's doubles title and contest three finals at a Super 750 event for the first time after Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun and Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani set up a showdown in Paris on Saturday.

Their semi-final victories secured Malaysia's first French Open men's doubles crown since Gan Teik Chai-Koo Kien Keat's triumph in 2004, while Hoo Pang Ron-Lai Pei Jing and Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah also reached the mixed and women's doubles finals.

Malaysia will now have representatives in three of the five finals, keeping alive hopes of a historic three-title haul at the Super 750 tournament.

World No. 11 Wei Chong-Kai Wun reached their first career Super 750 final by beating Indonesia's world No. 14 Raymond Indra-Niklaus Joaquin 21-16, 21-15 at Arena Grand Paris.

World No. 5 Sze Fei-Izzuddin followed suit by overcoming Indonesia's world No. 25 Leo Rolly Carnando-Daniel Marthin 22-20, 21-9 in 31 minutes.

For Wei Chong-Kai Wun, trust and a willingness to shoulder each other's burden have been central to their run, with Wei Chong still struggling with a knee injury.

Wei Chong credited Kai Wun with giving him the support he needed to play with less pressure in the semi-finals.

"I think Kai Wun played really well and covered me a lot. So, I didn't feel much pressure during the match," said Wei Chong in a post-match interview with the Badminton World Federation.

"I haven't fully recovered (from the knee injury), but it is much better than before. I just need some time to recover fully."

Kai Wun said his message to Wei Chong before the tournament was to focus on his own game and trust his partner.

Their approach has carried them into the final after they suffered a first-round exit at last week's Denmark Open.

"I told my partner not to think too much, just focus on himself, and I would help cover the other things and keep supporting him," said Kai Wun.

"Now we are in the final. I hope tomorrow can be better."

In mixed doubles, independent world No. 31 Pang Ron-Pei Jing defeated China's sixth seeds Guo Xin Wa-Cheng Fang Hui 21-13, 21-9 in 31 minutes.

They will face world No. 1 Feng Yan Zhe-Huang Dong Ping of China in a repeat of last month's China Masters final.

In women's doubles, world No. 4 Pearly-Thinaah beat Japan's world No. 5 Rin Iwanaga-Kei Nakanishi 21-17, 22-20 to reach their second consecutive Super 750 final.

They will face Japan's world No. 3 Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto in the final.